Current:Home > StocksGOP silences ‘Tennessee Three’ Democrat on House floor for day on ‘out of order’ rule; crowd erupts -AssetTrainer
GOP silences ‘Tennessee Three’ Democrat on House floor for day on ‘out of order’ rule; crowd erupts
Surpassing View
Date:2025-04-09 16:57:32
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers on Monday voted to silence a Democratic member of the so-called Tennessee Three during an already tense House floor session after determining the young Black member violated newly enacted rules designed to punish disruptive members.
The move was directed at Rep. Justin Jones, which prohibited him from speaking and debating on bills for the remainder of the floor session. The vote prompted loud cries and chants that drowned out proceedings for several minutes even after the House speaker ordered the gallery to be cleared out.
Moments prior, Jones had been criticizing legislation that would have allowed more law enforcement officers in schools and began listing other resources that the state should be providing.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton had warned Jones not to stray off topic. Under new rules adopted by the GOP-dominant chamber last week, members can be silenced anywhere from a day to the rest of the year for not sticking to the bill being debated.
“What our schools need are mental health professionals,” Jones said. “We need funding for mental health, for counselors. We need to pay our teachers better. We don’t need more police in our schools.”
Sexton then ruled Jones out of order, setting up a vote on whether to quiet him for the rest of Monday’s session.
What happened next was a chaotic flurry of legislative proceedings, where Democrats outraged at the decision to move ahead with trying to silence Jones for the day began pleading with and trying to convince their GOP colleagues to change their minds. Republican lawmakers remained unconvinced, however, with 70 GOP members voting to silence Jones. Democratic members then angrily left the chamber with Jones.
The crowd, which included gun control advocates urging change in a special session after a deadly Nashville school shooting in March, shouted “fascists” and “racists,” and Sexton ordered troopers to clear out the gallery of the public.
Many in the crowd remained in the stands, and their cries of “vote them out” and “Whose house, our house” drowned out the legislative proceedings for several minutes, enough at one point that a Republican lawmaker said he couldn’t hear what he was supposed to be voting on.
Jones was among the two Tennessee lawmakers expelled earlier this year for his role in a pro-gun control protest inside the Tennessee Capitol.
The demonstration came just days after a shooter opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville, killing three children and three adults. Jones joined Reps. Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson in approaching the front of the House floor without permission with a bullhorn, joining the chants and cries for action by protesters in the public gallery and outside of the chamber.
Pearson and Jones, who are both Black, were expelled, while Johnson, who is white, was spared by one vote. The two have since been reelected to their positions.
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- JoJo Siwa Reacts to SNL Impression of Her New Look
- Obi Ezeh, a former Michigan football and all-Big Ten standout LB, dies at 36
- Powerball winning numbers for May 4: Jackpot rises to $203 million
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- When is daylight saving time? Here's what it means and when to 'fall back' in 2024
- Full transcript of Face the Nation, May 5, 2024
- Vanderpump Rules Reunion Teases Most Emotional Cast Moment Yet—Yes, Really
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Berkshire Hathaway has first annual meeting since death of longtime vice chairman Charlie Munger
Ranking
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Whoopi Goldberg says her mom didn't remember her after receiving electroshock therapy
- Here's what happens inside the Met Gala after the red carpet
- Belgian man arrested on suspicion of murdering his companion in 1994 after garden excavation turns up human remains
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Gap Factory's Sale Is Up to 75% Off & The Deals Will Have You Clicking Add To Cart ASAP
- Millions of people across Oklahoma, southern Kansas at risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms
- Tom Brady roast on Netflix: 12 best burns* of NFL legend, Bill Belichick and Patriots
Recommendation
Could your smelly farts help science?
Ukrainian Olympic weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko dies in war with Russia
It’s (almost) Met Gala time. Here’s how to watch fashion’s big night and what to know
Tom Brady roast on Netflix: 12 best burns* of NFL legend, Bill Belichick and Patriots
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Abducted 10-month-old found alive after 2 women killed, girl critically injured in New Mexico park
Queen Rania of Jordan says U.S. is seen as enabler of Israel
This Holocaust Remembrance Day, survivors have a message: Don't let history 'repeat itself'